What is the customer journey?

We have already talked in some other post about the concept of cross channel marketing and its fundamentals. Here, we would like to explore the idea of the customer journey in more depth as a framework for implementing a cross channel strategy successful.

What is the customer journey?

The customer journey is the journey a user follows from the moment he or she considers purchasing a good or service until he or she buys it.. The customer journey exists for all products and services, and it occurs both off and online. If it has become more relevant now, it is because the digital ecosystem has brought about two significant changes in the customer journey: on the one hand the "scenarios" or "landscapes" through which a user passes on his "journey" have multiplied. (web, email, social networks, comparators, mobility, etc.), and on the other hand, interactions with the brand in these "scenarios" or "landscapes" can be measured and the information can be stored.. This provides marketers with useful information to determine how different points of interaction affect user behaviour throughout the customer journey.

In this context, it is worth highlighting the three aspects where, according to an article published by McKinseybrands will have to put the spotlight on.

• Analysis: companies must allocate resources to search for relevant behavioural patterns that allow them to identify and predict user behaviour throughout the customer journey. The aim is to obtain a 360º view of the customer.
• Design: All user experiences will be relevant, as it is the user who decides where and when he/she interacts with the brand. Thus, the brand should pay attention to and optimise all interaction points by reducing friction elements.
• Response: As the user interacts in real time across platforms and environments, true team integration and coordination is needed to deliver the right message at the right time. The organisational and competency implications for marketers are enormous in this regard.

The customer journey will be the great marketing lever when it comes to managing the user experience for the brand. However, it is not an easy task. There are 3 steps from which we can start to address the customer journey:

1. Identify the key points along the customer journey. To do this, it is necessary to create maps that represent the most common and critical "paths".
2. With the map created, we will try to define at each point of contact what message the user should receive. Here we must take into account aspects such as the user's demographic profile, their stage in the life cycle (whether they are a prospect, customer, recurring customer) or their purchase history. These aspects will condition the type of content we will show the user.
3. Since the aim is to provide a unique and relevant user experience, the messages we deliver in each of the different channels must be related, to the extent that behaviour in one channel can affect the next.

In the previous example, we have created a "path" at the initial moment of the relationship with the user (the opt-in at the home page) and depending on the user's response to the welcome email in which we include an incentive of €10 on the first purchase, a series of events will be triggered in which email, Facebook and SMS will intervene. These sequences of events will have to be coordinated, and not only that, but the email, Facebook and mobile experiences will have to be optimised for each channel.